Improvement in automatic passenger-register for vehicles



lnitrll tant attra @pitre Letters Patent N 106,610, dated August 23,18711.

IMPROVEMENT IN AUTOMATIC PASSENGER-REGISTER FOR VEHICLES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of theSame.

To all whom it may concern Beit known Athat I, CHARLES Or'rrxonn, oflhiladelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania,have invented a new and useful Registering-Device for Passenger-Cars;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exactdescription of the same, reference being lrad to the accompanyingdrawing and t0 the letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to that class of passengerregisters which isprovided with ahinged spring step, by means of which the register isoperated through suitable connecting-devices, and consists mainly incertain details of construction, which will be fully describedhereinafter.

1n the drawing- Figure l represents a side elevation ot' a ear having myimproved gate attached, and

Figure 2, an end view of the same.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willnow proceed to describe fully its construction and method of operation.

A represents a car-body', which is provided with the usual platform a.

a represents the step, which is located in its usual. position, but ishinged, at its rear edge, to the platform, and is provided also with aspring beneath it, which presses its front edge upward, slightly beyondits ordinary level.

B represents a lever, which is pivoted to any snit- 'able fulcrumrigidly attached to the car-body, the front arm of which is bent, asshown, and caused to rest beneath the step, preferably against abearingplate.

Its rear ar'rn rests in a slot in the lever G, as shown.

lI his lever -G is also suitably pivoted to a proper fulcrnrn rigidlyattached to the car-body, and has attached to its long arm theconnecting rods or wires which operate the register.

c c represent these rods or wires, which are attached, at their upperends, to one of the ends of the bell-cranks D D', as shown.

'lo the. other ends of the bell-cranks are attached the slides E E',which move in suitable openings in the tube F.

c c' represent sprrngs, oy means of which the return movement of thebell-cranks is effected.

The tube F opens below into a close door, provided with a door having asuitable lock or other fastening, and above into a reservoir, as shown.

Balls of any suitable material and size are `used in connection withthis register, care being taken, however, that the. distance in the tubebetween the slides corresponds to the diameter of the balls.

Gr represents a gate, which is nrade, preferably, to slide upon ways,and is provided with airy suitable catch-device, to secure it inposition when closed.

.r/ represents a supplemental platform, which" is rigidly attached tothe gate, at right angles thereto, and which, when the gate is closed,serves to cover' the spring step, lt is, preferably, located on a linewith the main part of the platform, as shown.

Suitable ays should be provided for its free end to slide upon, andasuitable recess to receive it should be made in or beneath the body ofthe car.

The operation is as follows:

\\'hen the gate is closed no passenger' can, of course, enter' or leavethe car. The supplemental platform attached to the gate now covers thespring step, so that the accident-al operation of theregistering-devices is rendered impossible.

\Vhen a passenger desires to enter, the gate is thrown open, when,ofcourse, the spring step becomes exposed, by the sliding back ofthesupplemental platform with the gate.

As the person enters, his weight dcpresses the spring step, and by italso thc front end of the lever B. The rear end of this lever raises theshort arm of the lever' C, the long arm of which being depressed drawsdown the connecting-rods c c, and thus operates the bell-cranks.

These bell-cranks are so arranged that the pulling .down of thc rodscauses the slile E to withdraw from the tube F, while the slide lt' isforced into the tube.

The result of this operation is that the ball which was resting ou theslide E is permit-ted to fall into the box below, while the balls aboveare held from falling by the slide E', which has been forced into thetube.

As soon, however, as the weight of the person entering is removed fromthe step, the springs c' c' neeessarily draw the bell-cranks back againto their original position, and the slides, of course, are likewiscoperated. 'lhe slide E is forced again into the tube, and the slide Eiswithdrawn, by which means the balls are permitted to fall the distanceof a single ball, the lower one resting, of course, upon the slide E,ready for the entrance of another passenger'.

As the person leaves the car a similar result takes place. It thereforefollows that, forevery person that rides upon the car, the registerdrops two balls, one when he enters and one when he leaves.

It is designed to use this register in connection with a car having oneend closed, in which case but two registers will be needed, one for eachstep.

llhe location of the registers is immaterial. They will he. preferablylocated upon the rear end ofthe car, on each side.

The advantages obtained hy this construction are great simplicity withaccuracy.

The covering of the step, when not in actual use, prevents the registerfrom being accidentally operated to the detriment of the conductor.

kHaving thus fully described my invention,

What I claim as new7 and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The gate G, for closing the entrance to the piatform, and having thesupplemental platform g adapted to cover the treadle-stepa', asdescribed, for the pur pose set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed this day of 18 CHARLES OTTINGER.Witnesses:

PETER HAY, E. C; HAY.

